History[edit]

Pre-20th century[edit]
Main articles: Masquerade ball, Halloween, and Costume party
Masquerade balls were a feature of the Carnival season in the 15th century, and involved
increasingly elaborate allegorical Royal Entries, pageants, and triumphal processions celebrating
marriages and other dynastic events of late medieval court life. They were extended into costumed
public festivities in Italy during the 16th century Renaissance, generally elaborate dances held for
members of the upper classes, which were particularly popular in Venice.
Costume parties (American English) or fancy dress parties (British English) were popular from the
19th century onwards. Costuming guides of the period, such as Samuel Miller's Male Character
Costumes (1884)[6] or Ardern Holt's Fancy Dresses Described (1887),[7] feature mostly generic
costumes, whether that be period costumes, national costumes, objects or abstract concepts such
as "Autumn" or "Night". Most specific costumes described therein are for historical figures although
some are sourced from fiction, like The Three Musketeers or Shakespeare characters.
By March 1891, a literal call by one Herbert Tibbits for what would today be described as
"cosplayers" was advertised for an event held from 5–10 March that year at the Royal Albert Hall in
London, for the so-named Vril-Ya Bazaar and Fete based on a science fiction novel and its
characters, published two decades earlier. [8]

Fan costuming[edit]

A Mr. Skygack – an early modern costuming or cosplay outfit, Washington state, 1912 [9][10][11]

A.D. Condo's science fiction comic strip character Mr. Skygack, from Mars (a Martian ethnographer
who comically misunderstands many Earthly affairs) is arguably the first fictional character that
people emulated by wearing costumes, as in 1908 Mr. and Mrs. William Fell of Cincinnati, Ohio are
reported to have attended a masquerade at a skating rink wearing Mr. Skygack and Miss Dillpickles
costumes. Later, in 1910, an unnamed woman won first prize at masquerade ball in Tacoma,
Washington wearing another Skygack costume.[12][13]
The first people to wear costumes to attend a convention were science fiction fans Forrest J
Ackerman and Myrtle R. Douglas, known in fandom as Morojo. They attended the 1939 1st World
Science Fiction Convention (Nycon or 1st Worldcon) in the Caravan Hall, New York, USA dressed in
"futuristicostumes", including green cape and breeches, based on the pulp magazine artwork
of Frank R. Paul and the 1936 film Things to Come, designed and created by Douglas. [13][14][15]

Forrest J Ackerman and Morojo at the 1st World Science Fiction Convention in "futuricostumes" designed and
sewed by Morojo

Ackerman later stated that he thought everyone was supposed to wear a costume at a science
fiction convention, although only he and Douglas did. [16]
Fan costuming caught on, however, and the 2nd Worldcon (1940) had both an unofficial
masquerade held in Douglas' room and an official masquerade as part of the programme. [3][17][18] David
Kyle won the masquerade wearing a Ming the Merciless costume created by Leslie Perri,
while Robert A. W. Lowndes received second place with a Bar Senestro costume (from the
novel The Blind Spot by Austin Hall and Homer Eon Flint).[17] Other costumed attendees included
guest of honor E. E. Smith as Northwest Smith (from C. L. Moore's series of short stories) and both
Ackerman and Douglas wearing their futuristicostumes again. [16][17][19] Masquerades and costume balls
continued to be part of World Science Fiction Convention tradition thereafter.[18] Early Worldcon
masquerade balls featured a band, dancing, food and drinks. Contestants either walked across a
stage or a cleared area of the dance floor.[18]
Ackerman wore a "Hunchbackerman of Notre Dame" costume to the 3rd Worldcon (1941), which
included a mask designed and created by Ray Harryhausen, but soon stopped wearing costumes to
conventions.[16] Douglas wore an Akka costume (from A. Merritt's novel The Moon Pool), the mask
again made by Harryhausen, to the 3rd Worldcon and a Snake Mother costume (another Merritt
costume, from The Snake Mother) to the 4th Worldcon (1946).[20] Terminology was yet unsettled; the
1944 edition of Jack Speer's Fancyclopedia used the term costume party.[21]
Costuming at the 1982 San Diego Comic-Con.

Rules governing costumes became established in response to specific costumes and costuming
trends. The first nude contestant at a Worldcon masquerade was in 1952; but the height of this trend
was in the 1970s and early 1980s, with a few every year. [18] This eventually led to "No Costume is No
Costume" rule, which banned full nudity, although partial nudity was still allowed as long as it was a
legitimate representation of the character. [13] Mike Resnick describes the best of the nude costumes
as Kris Lundi wearing a harpy costume to the 32nd Worldcon (1974) (she received an honorable
mention in the competition).[18][22][23] Another costume that instigated a rule change was an attendee at
the 20th Worldcon (1962) whose blaster prop fired a jet of real flame; which led to fire being banned.
[18]
 At the 30th WorldCon (1972), artist Scott Shaw wore a costume composed largely of peanut
butter to represent his own underground comix character called "The Turd". The peanut butter
rubbed off, doing damage to soft furnishings and other peoples' costumes, and then began to go
rancid under the heat of the lighting. Food, odious, and messy substances were banned as costume
elements after that event.[18][24][25][26]
Costuming spread with the science fiction conventions and the interaction of fandom. The earliest
known instance of costuming at a convention in the United Kingdom was at the London Science
Fiction Convention (1953) but this was only as part of a play. However, members of the Liverpool
Science Fantasy Society attended the 1st Cytricon (1955), in Kettering, wearing costumes and
continued to do so in subsequent years.[27] The 15th Worldcon (1957) brought the first official
convention masquerade to the UK.[27] The 1960 Eastercon in London may have been the first British-
based convention to hold an official fancy dress party as part of its programme. [28] The joint winners
were Ethel Lindsay and Ina Shorrock as two of the titular witches from the novel The Witches of
Karres by James H. Schmitz.[29]
Star Trek conventions began in 1969 and major conventions began in 1972 and they have featured
cosplay throughout.[30]
In Japan, costuming at conventions was a fan activity from at least the 1970s, especially after the
launch of the Comiket convention in December 1975.[13] Costuming at this time was known
as kasō (仮装).[13] The first documented case of costuming at a fan event in Japan was
at Ashinocon (1978), in Hakone, at which future science fiction critic Mari Kotani wore a costume
based on the cover art for Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel A Fighting Man of Mars.[Notes 1][31][32] In an
interview Kotani states that there were about twenty costumed attendees at the convention's
costume party—made up of members of her Triton of the Sea fan club and Kansai Entertainers (関
西芸人, Kansai Geinin), antecedent of the Gainax anime studio—with most attendees in ordinary
clothing.[31] One of the Kansai group, an unnamed friend of Yasuhiro Takeda, wore an
impromptu Tusken Raider costume (from the film Star Wars) made from one of the host-hotel's rolls
of toilet paper.[33] Costume contests became a permanent part of the Nihon SF Taikai conventions
from Tokon VII in 1980.
Possibly the first costume contest held at a comic book convention was at the 1st Academy
Con held at Broadway Central Hotel, New York in August 1965.[34] Roy Thomas, future editor-in-chief
of Marvel Comics but then just transitioning from a fanzine editor to a professional comic book writer,
attended in a Plastic Man costume.[34]
The first Masquerade Ball held at San Diego Comic-Con was in 1974 during the convention's 6th
event. Voice actress June Foray was the master of ceremonies.[35] Future scream queen Brinke
Stevens won first place wearing a Vampirella costume.[36][37] Forrest J Ackerman, the creator of
Vampirella, was in attendance and posed with Stevens for photographs. They became friends and,
according to Stevens "Forry and his wife, Wendayne, soon became like my god
parents."[38] Photographer Dan Golden saw a photograph of Stevens in the Vampirella costume while
visiting Ackerman's house, leading to him hiring her for a non-speaking role in her first student
film, Zyzak is King (1980), and later photographing her for the cover of the first issue of Femme
Fatales (1992).[38] Stevens attributes these events to launching her acting career. [38]
As early as a year after the 1975 release of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, audience members
began dressing as characters from the movie and role-playing (although the initial incentive for
dressing-up was free admission) in often highly accurate costumes. [39][40]
Costume-Con, a conference dedicated to costuming, was first held in January 1983. [41][42] The
International Costumers Guild, Inc., originally known as the Greater Columbia Fantasy Costumer's
Guild, was launched after the 3rd Costume-Con (1985) as a parent organization and to support
costuming.[41]